Why not just use the agent?
Because almost everybody who will help you in Turkey for free is being paid by the other side. Here is who pays whom.
Follow the money
None of these people are villains. They are simply answering to whoever pays them — which, in every row but the last one, is not you.
| Who | Who pays them | What they need to happen | What that leaves out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estate agent | The seller (a % of the sale) | The sale to close, at the highest price | Damp, noise, the neighbour, an unpaid aidat debt |
| Property developer | You, for the unit | The unit sold before it is finished | Delays, spec downgrades, the state of the finished blocks |
| Clinic patient co-ordinator | The clinic | You to book the treatment | A second opinion, the real all-in price |
| Sourcing agent | A margin on the goods | The order placed, whatever the quality | That the "factory" is a broker |
| Contractor | You, in stages | The next stage payment released | Work not done since the last payment |
| MyGuy.tr | You, once, for the visit | To be right, because you are the repeat customer | Nothing. That is the entire product. |
"But my agent has been very helpful."
They probably have been, and they may well be honest. The point is not dishonesty — it is that you cannot check. When the only person describing the flat is the person who earns a commission when you buy it, the description is not evidence. Ours costs money precisely so that it can be.
"Can't a friend or a cousin go and look?"
They can, once. Then they are busy, or they went last Tuesday and forgot the photos, or they did not want to tell you the bad news. A favour has no deadline and no comeback. We are slower to thank and much easier to hold to account.
"Isn't a lawyer better?"
For anything legal, yes — and we will tell you so. A lawyer with a notarised vekaletname can sign, sue and transfer title, and we cannot. What a lawyer will not do is stand in the flat on Thursday, count the cartons before the container is sealed, or sit with you at the clinic. The two jobs are different. Many of our clients use both.
"What stops you taking a kickback anyway?"
A structural thing, not a promise: we never recommend the counterparty. We do not have partner clinics, partner estate agents or partner factories. We report on the one you chose. There is nobody to pay us a referral fee, because we make no referrals.
Ready to get it handled?
Tell us what needs doing in Turkey. You get a fixed quote before anyone moves.